Note From 84th Floor Lets Family Know He Died Hopeful

This simple note with it’s simple message can be seen two different ways. It can be seen as a message of sadness, pain, and grief. A message sent at a desperate time for Randy Scott, who was trapped on the 84th floor of the South Tower near the impact point. However, Mrs. Scott refuses to think of it as such, she sees it as a message of hope. Randy had hope that they would be found in time. It was his hope and courage that allowed him to break a window and send a message to the earth below.

The story of Randy’s note is a long one, with some major twists and turns, and just a little bit of a miracle. Randy Scott worked for Euro Brokers which was located on the 84th floor of the South Tower. The Scott family always assumed, since his office was so near the initial impact zone, that Randy had died instantly. They had taken comfort in that and knew he had not suffered. This was a comfort to them. It was not to be. Contrary to the family’s belief, Randy was very much alive and coherent after the plane struck the tower. He was so with it that he smashed a window and threw a note to the street below. His note, which featured Randy’s bloody thumb print, was scooped up immediately and given to a guard. The rescue workers knew he was there and were desperately attempting to reach them when the tower fell.

That simple note was then passed to the Federal Reserve to await the opening of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. For almost a decade the note sat in the archives when a worker decided to attempt to identify the author. He did not want the museum to feature the piece and not have a name attached. He felt the author deserved to have his name next to his last ditch effort to save himself and a dozen more. That small bloody thumb print would prove to be just the thing needed. Through DNA testing and analyzing fingerprinting, they were able to identify the author as Randy Scott.

Denise Scott remembered getting the phone call. They asked her to come down and verify that it was Randy’s handwriting. She took Randy’s best friend with her and choking back tears, she identified the note. She, however, did not immediately tell their two daughters. She felt that they were content with the fact that he had died right away and didn’t want to disturb their peace with it. It was not until their youngest daughter graduated college that Denise sat them down to have the talk with them.

Initially their response was “Oh, poor Daddy, he must have been so scared.” Denise would not allow them to remember that about their father. No, she had another take on that note. Denise Scott said. “And I said ‘No, your father was hopeful.” The family believes the note tells a lot about where Randy was mentally at the moment. “He wasn’t trembling. He wasn’t nervous. It just looked like, ‘This is what I gotta do. I gotta get some help to these 12 people.'”